


A Wing and a Prayer

by Brumeier



Series: Bite Sized Fic 2018 [17]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Blindness, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, M/M, Permanent Injury, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 02:32:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13354629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: LJ Comment Fic for Song Titles prompt:Stargate Multiverse, any pilot, Learning to Fly (Pink Floyd)In which Rodney gives John back something he thought he'd lost forever.





	A Wing and a Prayer

“Will you stop being recalcitrant and sit down?" 

"What's that?" John snarked back. "Something from your word of the day calendar?" 

Rodney sighed, loud and gustily. "You're not going to make me change my mind, so just sit down." 

"This is stupid." 

"You're stupid. Sit down." 

John's heart was pounding so loud he almost couldn't hear Rodney, but he knew it was pointless to argue. When Rodney was focused on a task he was like a dog with a bone, and nothing was going to shake him loose. 

"I've got all day," Rodney said. 

"Fine." 

John reached out, hand knocking into the pilot's seat. He traced the top edge of it down to the arm rest before carefully sitting down. His attempt to play it cool was being hampered by the panting breaths he couldn't seem to stop. 

The last time he'd been in the 'jumper, he'd...his head...the _pain_... 

Rodney put his hand on John's knee and squeezed, hard. "Hey. Focus. I need you here, not stuck back seven months ago. Okay?" 

His voice was curt and no-nonsense, and cut through the noise in John's head pretty effectively. 

"You still with me?" 

John nodded. 

"Good. Now pay attention." Rodney stopped squeezing John's knee, but left his hand there. "You know the 'jumper has a mental interface, because that’s usually how you fly it." 

"McKay, I don't --" 

"Zip it, Colonel. As I was saying before you so rudely interrupted me, the mental interface doesn't need to be visual. Zelenka and I have been tweaking the programming and the tests have been mostly positive." 

"Mostly? I knew this was a mistake." 

John tried to get up but Rodney was stronger than most people gave him credit for. He tried to imagine what expression was on Rodney's face and for a moment was swamped with despair at the knowledge that he'd never see it again, never see anything again but shifting black and gray shadows and the occasional fuzzy blob of white light. 

"It might not work for you," Rodney said. "But it won't hurt you. And it won't hurt to try. If it doesn't work, we'll keep hammering away at it until it does. I'm not giving up." 

There was a steely certainty to his tone of voice, one that brooked no arguments, and John tried to calm himself down. He reminded himself that Rodney was only trying to help, and if Rodney believed it would work it probably would; the man was rarely wrong when it came to the science. 

"Good." The underlying relief in that one word was almost palpable. "Now just relax. Feel for the operating system the way you always do. You know how to do this." 

John didn't have to go searching for it; like all Ancient tech he could feel the thrum of purpose on his skin and in the back of his mind. All it took was a thought to get the system turned on and, while he couldn't see all the lights in the console flare to life, he could _feel_ it, the change from dormant to awake. 

"You're doing great," Rodney said. His thumb was making little circles on John's knee. "Now call up the HUD." 

John did so, and sucked in a breath when he realized he could see it. Well, not really _see_ it, but all the information was there in his mind. It was like daydreaming about something and visualizing it so clearly it was almost real. John had access to the onboard systems, knew they were reading green across the board. 

"Can you see it?" Rodney asked, voice soft and uncertain for the first time since he'd manhandled John into the 'jumper. 

"Yeah." There was a lump in John's throat that was getting difficult to swallow around, but also a buzz an anticipation that he hadn't felt in a very long time. 

"Take us out." 

The manual controls slid out from the console and John wrapped his hands around them so tightly he was sure his knuckles were white, though he was glad to have that physical connection to the 'jumper. The display in his head changed, and suddenly he had a three hundred and sixty degree schematic of the 'jumper bay. It was detailed enough that he could tell Zelenka was at the far end of the bay monitoring everything on a datapad. 

"Whoa." 

"It's the sensors," Rodney explained, just a hint of smugness in his voice. "The range is pretty remarkable given the size of the 'jumper, so you'll have a full picture of everything around you." 

_I won't be flying blind_ , John thought, and that lump in his throat got bigger. 

Using a combination of the controls and the mental interface, John maneuvered the 'jumper out of the bay and up through the doors. Once they were outside the schematic showed him Atlantis, every tower and pier, and John could feel the tears on his face. He didn't even care. 

Rodney had given him back the sky. 

John reached out for Rodney, hand bumping into his shoulder and then moving up to cup his face. He was crying, too. John leaned in and kissed him, regretting the distance he'd put between them after the accident. And so grateful that Rodney hadn't let himself be pushed away completely. 

"You gonna sit there blubbering all day, or are you going to take this thing for a spin?" Rodney asked, his voice thick with emotion. 

John wiped at his face with the back of his hand, a genuine smile spreading across his face for the first time in months. He may have lost his sight, but he hadn't lost the things most important to him. 

He headed for the mainland, lowering the inertial dampeners just a little so he could get a better feel for how fast they were going. 

It was time to learn a new way to fly.


End file.
